Iron Chef
by LittleMissMidnight
Summary: After making lunch for the team Haruka is determined to make sure Gou won't do the same mistake again and invites her to his place. But little did they know that the food wasn't the only thing they would end up liking. HaruGou (oneshot)


**Iron Chef**

* * *

Gou didn't understand why the boys acted the why they did after discovering her secret ingredient in their meals. She could already picture their grim reactions except Nagisa who just fell in love with her cooking. Looking into her bag she saw the extra bags of protein powder she bought for the five of them.

Pulling them out, "Well, more for Nagisa-kun then." She sighed before returning them back into her bag.

It became a habit to come back to school after hours to close the pool gates for another day to only be greeted by one of the boys. On colder days not so much but when the finals started to creep up to them quickly she wouldn't be surprised if they even slept in the water.

Walking to the school pool Gou wasn't surprised to see Haruka floating around in the school pool. His eyes closed as she scoped to see Makoto was lying in one of the chairs. Gou knew he was tried to asking Haruka to leave and now was just sleeping in one of the chairs.

Gou sighed and sat by the pool's edge and just stared. "Sometimes I wonder if we should build you a inflatable house here for you Haruka-senpai."

Haru opened his eyes after hearing Gou's voice talking to him. He stared at her quietly for a moment before coming up with his response. "That would be nice."

Sighing at the somewhat predictable answer, "Well I came here to close and clean up but it looks like you'll be here for a few more hours so I'll leave the keys here."

Standing up and stretching Gou dusted her skirt and tightened her ponytail for the walk back.

"Hey Kou,"

Surprised to see Haru still called her by her feminine nickname the red head turned back to the floating swimmer, "Is there anything else you want Haruka-senpai?" Gou asked in a surprised manner.

Silent for a moment, "Come over to my place tonight, I need to teach you how to cook."

Upset and extremely insulted to hear Haru mocking her cooking abilities Gou's face quickly lit up in anger. "What are you trying to say?!" she blurted. Her loud voice caused Makoto to wake up. "You can't cook anything beside mackerel!"

Standing upright in the water, Haruka shook his hair. He opened up his eyes. "I'm not saying that you can't cook. You don't just pour protein powder all over my food and expect that to be _healthy_."

Haruka was always straight to the point.

Flustered, "Y-You should be grateful I even care for you at all!"

Turning around with arms crossed, Gou stomped herself away from the pool. Haru watched and saw the water move a little after each stomp Gou would make as she left. He ran his hand through his navy blue hair and stared up to Makoto.

"I swear the ground shook just then."

* * *

The smell of excellent culinary skills filled the air as soon Gou entered into the kitchen. The smell of herbs and natural aromas sent Gou's lips licking that nearly caused her to drop what she was holding. A sense of reality kicked in when the sounds of tinned mackerel crashed onto the tiled floor.

"Ah!" Gou panicked as she reached for the tins. "Haruka-senpai will never forgive me to see his beloved mackerel on the floor like this!"

After talking to the boys about having a healthier lunch Gou insisted to make them lunch for the next day. At first they couldn't stop drooling at the sight but after exposing her secret ingredient Makoto and Haruka's and even Rei face turned grim.

"I can't believe I even agreed to this." Gou started to put the canned goods onto the table. Reaching for the last one a hand came into view and placed it on the last can.

"It's for your own good Kou." Haru entered into the conversation.

Standing upright and her hands on her waist, "I'll prove you wrong Haruka-senpai and show you that I'm a better cook then you!" She spoke rather upbeat.

"Ever since you gave me that recipe I've been eating more than just mackerel." Haruka placed an apron on him. He reached for another placed on a chair and wrapped it around Gou's waist, her face quickly turning red. Pulling apart Haru noticed how red Gou's face had become.

Pulling up her sleeves, "I accept your challenge Haruka-senpai."

Confused, "I never said this would be a competition Kou." But after looking at the fire in her eyes Haru knew there was no way of talking her out, after all, she was Rin's little sister and they shared such similar traits that it made Haru worry.

"Let's start with entrees!" Haruka watched as Gou pulled out a huge pile of different ingredients. Slamming down onto the dining table Haru stayed quiet. "Nice to see you've updated your shopping list Haruka-senpai."

Shrugging his shoulders Haruka turned and grabbed his own pile of set ingredients. "Nice to see you're determined as ever… I guess."

* * *

Gou's eyes widen at the impressed dish served, ready to be compared to hers. The scallops were cooked to golden brown and the vegetable puree had turned into a beautiful ruby shade. The apple relish was lime green due to the granny smith apples Haru had used for his dish. The smell of freshly cooked seafood nearly tempted Gou to give up the challenge. Looking at her opponent she pulled back with crossed arms.

"So what is it?" Gou perked up an eyebrow.

Not intimidated by his manager. "Its scallops with a vegetable puree and apple relish."

"If you can cook like this why don't you take this to lunch? It's healthier than simply fish and rice."

Still not bothered by her piercing glares, "Too much effort." He spoke bluntly.

Haruka looked at the dish Gou had served up. He admitted it was impressive and the presentation was so good he knew Rei would be super impressed with its beauty. Pasta noodles were served with toppings of prawns, tomatoes capers and jamon serrano. Though he never invited Gou for a cooking contest in particular and had no plans to win the whole thing, he knew that if he showed that he was going to lose she would never let him.

"Seared port lincoln king prawn linguine tomato capers and jamon serrano." Gou spoke in one whole mouthful. Proud of her creation, "Ready to admit defeat?"

"I would but you wouldn't let me." Haruka sighed softly. Reaching for a pair of chop sticks Haru began the tasting as Gou soon followed.

Her eyes sparkled like stars as her mouth was enjoying such fantastic flavours in her mouth that she had never tasted before. The sweetness of the apple relish and the scallops were not too chewy. It was as if Gou had just tasted perfection.

"Well?" Haru asked. "Can we call this off now?"

Swallowing down the fantastic meal, Gou stuttered. "N-no!" Putting the meal down on the table, "We still have main course to go." She crossed her arms and held her chest out proudly. "Unless you believe I'm the better chef between us."

Haru looked at the pasta with his chopsticks as he watched it slip down back to his plate. "The pasta isn't cooked enough and the prawns are undercooked. The tomatoes are too overpowering and the jamon just tastes weird in pasta." Haru looked in a dull manner to Gou before feeling the table shake.

Slamming her hands onto the table. "Then to main meals it is!" Gou looked at the ingredients she brought over. "Aha, I'm so glad I brought these over."

Still sitting at the table Haru watched Gou run from one corner of his kitchen to another. Sighing he stood up, "This better be over soon."

* * *

The fans went into overdrive as the two amateur chefs cooked meals that would impress. Haru looked over his shoulder and saw the fire in Gou's eyes to beat him in a competition he didn't know he was in until tonight. Flipping the salmon in his frying pan Haru stared blankly at his meal. He could hear the rush of vegetables getting chopped by the knife Gou was holding tightly. Haruka suddenly felt sorry for the vegetables getting chopped under her irritation.

When the skin had turned golden brown he slipped the cooked fish into a serving plate and got fruits ready to compliment the meal. The small kitchen was filled with Gou's muttering of some kind; no doubt motivating herself to cook better.

While peeling an orange Haruka walked over the stove and turned down the heat of the hotplate Gou was using to cook her meat. This caused her to quickly turn to his direction.

"Are you sabotaging me?" she said coldly.

"If you keep cooking at that rate the rabbit your cooking will burn, and rabbit taste horrible when you burn it."

"Since when did you eat anything beside seafood and become a pro at it?"

Returning to peeling the orange, "If you never gave me that recipe I wouldn't be cooking and told me my lunch was too simple then we wouldn't be having this conversation." Returning to his bench, "And then you had to add protein powder to our lunches." Haruka shivered at the thought.

Irritated Gou reached for a wooden spoon and waved in the air in her irritation. Flipping her meat with tongs she let the other side of the meat to start to cook. She could sense every time Haruka would come over and check on her and what she was cooking. In response the young teenager would lift up her wooden spoon as if it was a knife.

"Never insult a woman and her cooking Haruka-senpai." Gou threatened.

"And here I thought helping you to cook was a good idea." Haruka began to drain the baby spinach that he was letting to boil. "I mean your meal wasn't bad, there were some great flavors happening I just think it would taste better without the protein powder."

Gou paused. "You think I can cook?"

Plating up the spinach and the peeled sliced oranges to his salmon, "Yes, I just wanted to help you get better at cooking. I never signed up to this competition and I have no idea why I really agreed."

"So…why do you want to help me get better?" Haruka could tell Gou had finally let her pride down.

Getting his words together, Haru spoke. "Because you've done so much for the whole team. You've helped us train, help us get things for the club and even made lunch for us. I thought helping you get better with your cooking skills was one way to repay you. I even invited Makoto and the others to join us later after we cooked something together."

Flustered with Haru's words a sense of embarrassment poured over Gou. "Ah, I'm so sorry Haruka-senpai. I should have known you were only out to help me." Suddenly smoke sent the fire alarms crazy in the whole kitchen. Turning around the frying pan was on fire sending Haru and Gou in a state of panic.

"AH!" The little red head panicked. "It's burning!" Gou quickly rushed to the sink and started to fill it with cold water.

Rushing over, Haruka quickly turned the heat and lifted the burning frying pan to the sink and drowned it with the cold water. When the steam lifted and the smoke alarms calm down Gou and Haru were greeted in horror of Gou's cooking.

With a nervous laugh and smile, "…so should we move onto desserts now?" Haru simply glared at Gou as she kept on the nervous laugh. He wasn't happy. "I'll take that as a yes."

* * *

With a frying pan soaking in hot water now Gou started to bring out flour and eggs to the kitchen bench as bowls and other common baking goods were scattered on the bench. Haruka was looking lost at the ingredients in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"Hm?" Gou turned to face her friend. "Were making dessert…well fish cakes actually," Laughing nervously, "I didn't actually plan to cook an actually dessert. I thought you would admit defeat by now."

"…so you challenged me to a cook off without planning a dessert?" Haru cocked up an eyebrow.

"Says the man who jumps into anything filled with water without thinking twice," Gou pointed her wooden spoon at Haruka. "Well let's get this done before Makoto and the others get here."

Agreeing Haruka reached for the potatoes and started to peel them as Gou went on ahead a few steps of the recipe and did the next step. After peeling Haru noticed his female companion was struggling removing bones of the mackerel she saw lying in the fridge.

Walking over, "Why don't you use the canned ones in the cupboard?"

Blushing, "I want to put some effort into these fish cakes after the trouble I've done to you tonight."

"Here," Coming to Gou's aid he placed his hands over hers, causing for Gou to drop the fish for a brief moment. "You pull the bones off by pulling the spine off first and the tiny bones should follow."

"R-right."

Salmon, potatoes and other ingredients were mixed together until it resembled and felt like a meat patty before it would get fried. Digging her hands into the mixture Gou flattened them and coated them in an egg mixture followed with a coating of breadcrumbs. Gou repeated and Haru followed. Reaching in Gou rolled the fish mixture into a tiny ball and with a sudden thud with her hands the mixture splattered everywhere.

Haruka stood silently before noticing he had some of the mixture on his face. Wiping the minced meal from his face with his hands he took a quick taste.

"It's not bad but I think it needs more mackerel." Haruka pondered.

"Well maybe some people don't like their meals covered in mack-" Gou's compliant was put on hold when Haruka suddenly placed some of the minced mixture into her mouth with his finger. Munching and soon swallowing Gou sighed. "Ok, for this once _only_."

Coating the rest of the patties in eggs and breadcrumbs Haruka got another frying pan out and coated it in oil before turning the heat on. After a few minutes the sound of fresh fish cakes started to sizzle under the heat of the oil.

Gou watched as she started to scrub down the burnt stains from the frying pan from her last attempt of cooking in the hot soapy water. From time to time she glanced at Haru who was platting up golden brown fish cakes. The smell was great as Gou tried to finish the washing up.

"Kou." Haru began.

"Yes?"

"Thanks for coming over." Pausing, "It's nice to have other company besides Makoto and Nagisa all the time."

Confused, Gou simply answered back. "Sure. No worries."

With pans, plates and other cooking utensils on the drying rack drying, the two placed the freshly cooked fish cakes on the table with a cover to keep them warm. Gou looked at them with eyes trying hard to not try one. But hearing munching coming from Haruka caught her attention. He was already eating one after minutes of cooking them.

"Aren't you going to wait for the others to show up?"

"But fish cakes don't taste nice when they are cold." Haru explained.

"Then we'll just heat them up again in the microwave." Gou explained back. "Come-on after all that hard-"

And once again Gou's mouth was greeted with a fish cake that Haru just took a bite from. Her face red after realizing she was sharing the same fish cake Haruka was eating.

"Trust me once you've taken a bite you'll see that I'm right."

Swallowing down the fish cake, "You've been right all night, can you just take a break?" She sighed as she heard strange noises coming from the other room. "Ah, they must be here now."

Withdrawing the fish cake from Gou's lips Haruka took in another bite. He paused for a moment in confusing. "Hm, why did it suddenly taste sweeter?"

The young teen looked at the fish cake Haruka just shared with her and pulled his arm down until she could take a bite from his meal unexpectedly. Haruka's face was shocked and a little flustered of sharing a meal with his best friend's sister.

"I think my new lip balm is the answer to that." Gou winked before laughing.

A strange idea came over Haruka as he let Gou take another bite into the fish cake before he took another bite himself. "Amazing," His eyes widen. "Kou, we need to share our meals together more often whenever we are eating mackerel." The strange fondness of Haruka and his mackerel started to take over and creep out Gou.

Blushing, "Well if you keep cooking this well I don't mind actually, but we can't always have mackerel all the time; it's not a very balanced diet!" Gou put on her manager act and pointed at her best swimmer.

The door to the kitchen suddenly flew wide open and at the entrance was another Matsuoka sibling engulfed with flames. Behind him were friends they both shared.

"Explain yourself Haru!" Rin yelled as his friends held him back as much as they could. "Now!"

Taking a bite from his fish cake, "I think we might need to skip next week's class Kou." Both looked at each other as Gou nodded and Haru showed off a soft sweet smile, a gesture he hardly did to just anyone.

and both witnessed smile sweeter than they both could ever imagined.

* * *

**A/N: **Hello my fellow HaruGou shippers! I haven't wrote any sweet HaruGou stuff since last year or any oneshots in that matter. After seeing my last few oneshots were very popular I thought I'll give writing another HaruGou a shot.

After watching a few episodes of Free! season 2 I'm so surprised Haruka and Gou are talking a lot more than in the first season (and Gou is just getting more love in general) so I could really see Gou snapping in front of Haru when she isn't happy with what his doing. And also I got this concept from episode 4 which was priceless. I loved it.

Anyway I hope I can write another HaruGou oneshot soon! Thanks for reading!

**~midnight**


End file.
